“Yes, that’s a nice look for you, Isla. That shade of green really does contrast beautifully with your eyes. That’s a nice brooch, too. What is that, amethyst?”
”For your birthday? Really? Well, he’s quite an extravagant fellow, especially for a Mug”don’t give me that look, Isla, you know I bear Bob no ill will.”
“Never mind what Mother and Father say. And do stop scowling; you’re supposed to look serene. That’s better. Arch your neck a little more. Good.”
“No, I haven’t told them. It’s not that they don’t love you; they just need time to adjust. You know how these old fogies are -- very set in their ways. Bob’s a fine fellow and they’ll come around to it presently.”
“Well, maybe I’ll mention it. You know how Mother is about having a family Christmas. Perhaps if you came alone, she would””
“Calm down, Isla. It’s unbecoming. You want this portrait to look sensual and serene, not angry and hurt.”
“Just consider coming alone on Christmas”just consider it. You know how we’d all love to have you. Why, even the old house-elves miss you. Just the other day, Batty came up to me and asked ‘when Miss Isla would be back.’ Foolish old thing’s kept your room clean for months.”
“You know Mother wouldn’t do that. She needs old Batty around and besides, I don’t think Bob would want such a creature in the house.”
“I’m sure he says that, dear; they all say they’re comfortable with it. The fact of the matter is, it’s different.”
“Growing up with no knowledge of magic! We’ve lived with it all our lives. Bob’s known about it only a year. Seeing an elf running around the house would be a very unsettling experience for him, I’m sure!”
“You know what would be delightful? If you were holding the cat on your lap. Very winsome. I like painting animals; they’re always very lively when you’re done.”
“Oh, go and get him. I’m sure he’ll hold still.”
“What a good kitty! He really is precious, isn’t he?”
“I like cats just fine, Isla. I’m just more of a Crup person.”
“Of course, I won’t get it all done today, you goose! I’m just going to get a bit done. It’ll probably take”oh, three more sittings at least. We want this to look nice and professional, not the work of an amateur.”
“Well, you know I’ve always liked drawing and things like that. I’ve been trying out painting for a few months now and I think it’s going very well indeed. I’ve got a really nice painting of Mother done; she hung it in her room.”
“Not as hard as you might think, really. It’s just about seeing”really seeing. Most people don’t see do they? They look, but they don’t see. Noticing something and seeing it are completely different.”
“It’s true! People are such animals. They sense only the surface of anything”an object, a place, a relationship. They don’t look deep enough. If people looked deeper, they might stop being such fools.”
“Well, I’m sorry to bore you while I do you this favor. Why don’t you choose the topic of conversation, then?”
“The elections? Now you’re boring me, Isla. I’ve heard enough of politics from Father to last me the rest of my life. Nothing could be duller than the doings of the stuffy men in the Ministry.”
“You haven’t heard? Why, of course Phineas is doing well. He’s been made Headmaster of Hogwarts!”
“No joke at all! I can’t believe how out of touch you are! Yes, he’s been made Headmaster. It’s been some time now. Almost three months.”
“Tolerably. The job tires him out greatly. So much foolishness to sift through: committees, meetings, diplomacy, the day-to-day running of the school. Nothing ever gets done quickly, he says. Always some divergent opinion. Now, shouldn’t the Headmaster have ultimate authority over what gets done so he doesn’t have to bother with committees and governors?”
“Oh, come now, Isla. I think you’ve been spending too much time with the Muggles. If the Headmaster has been elected, hasn’t he been deemed fit? Why should any question him?”
“Fine, there should be some grounds for getting rid of an unfit Headmaster. But fooling around with all these meetings and rubbish is not going to improve anything.”
“Well, here we are, right back to politics again. Please, Isla, talk about something nice.”
”I know, I miss Hogwarts, too. Much as I love Grimmauld Place, I sometimes feel that Hogwarts is my real home, you know? I think Phineas feels the same way.”
“Turn your head a little; I want to see your eyes.”
“Yes, Phineas is enjoying himself, I think. You wouldn’t know it to hear him talk. He rails against the committees and boards, but I think he secretly enjoys it all.”
“Yes, I know. It’s all over the Prophet. Phineas right in the thick of it, too. Right now he’s taking the obvious stance. Reporters badgering him every minute of the day. He gets so many owls. Quite a barrage.”
“What’s the obvious stance? Good lord, Isla, a werewolf teaching students? A half-breed? It’s abominable. No respectable witch or wizard would stand up for it.”
“Oh, that’s nonsense, Isla and you know it. It is not the same thing as a real human. A half-breed is just that: half-human. These creatures mustn’t be allowed anywhere near wizards, let alone children! I think Phineas was quite right in letting the wolf go.”
“Think with your head, Isla! You’re so namby-pamby these days! What if it was to attack a child? What if it was to transform and murder the whole school in their sleep. Much better to keep it out.”
“Fine. Fine. We can talk about something else. Of course, I’m very nearly done for today.”
“An appointment in Diagon Alley. Very trifling business.”
“There’s some trouble with my Gringotts account. Apparently, someone tried to forge my name on a document”some such tosh. Anyway, I have to straighten the whole thing out. Very tiresome.”
“Hold the cat still, would you? I want to get a start on him before I’m done.”
“Yes, beautiful fur. We’ve got a new Knarl at home: silkiest thing you ever saw. Gorgeous animal.”
“Oh, Mother saw it in a shop and had to have it. You know how she is. Wouldn’t take no for an answer. Calls it ‘John.’”
“Well, I better get over to Diagon Alley. It’s been good seeing you, Isla.”
“Yes, Wednesday’s just fine. We want to get this masterpiece done, don’t we?”
*
“Oh, I’ve been busy. Working on a painting of Father. I’ve worked a bit on this one, too, adding the background and such.”
“Father’s not sitting for it. I’m doing it just from memory. I like to keep busy.”
“Where’s your kitty? We need to finish his bit today.”
“Outside? Well, I really need him, Isla.”
“If you would.”
“See? Now that’s much better. This is really going to be a wonderful painting, if I do say so myself. The cat, the dress, your hair. It’s really going to be marvelous.”
“I’m sure Bob will love it. It really is a wonderful present. People just adore paintings, you know.”
“I don’t really know why. I think it’s probably because it’s a”well, it’s the only way to freeze time. If you have one good painting of yourself, you’ll never age. Well, of course, you will, but the painting won’t. There’ll be a little piece of the past on your wall, memorialized. Always. People like that.”
“Bob can look at this twenty years from now and see you as you were. He’ll see the cat, he’ll see the dress, he’ll see the brooch, even if you don’t have any of them anymore. That’s one of the reasons I love art so much. It’s a representation of anything at all, anything the artist chooses to see. I choose to see you as you are right now.”
“Other reasons? Well, art does give one the feeling of God-like powers. If I wished to draw a blue jay in a mackintosh on a broomstick with the Encyclopedia Britannica in his pocket, I could and reality be damned.”
“That business in Gringotts? All cleared up. Annoying, though. The man in charge”thank goodness it was a man, I can’t stand goblins”the man in charge was really a rather suspicious sort of fellow.”
“Oh, you know, the sort who always think you’re up to something. As if I, a pureblood member of the Black family, would be committing some kind of fraud or attempting to bamboozle a bunch of long-fingered midgets out of their precious gold!”
“Don’t joke about Uncle Arkie, Isla. He was a bit of a bad seed, but never really meant any harm to anyone.”
“Well, perhaps he meant harm to the goblins, but still. A very sweet-tempered man. He never made it to the vault anyway. The Thief’s Downfall detected him before he came very close at all.”
“I have no idea why. He had plenty of money, God knows. Maybe he was in debt.”
“Father visited him in Azkaban a few months ago. Stark raving mad, of course. Such a humiliation for Father. His own brother locked up in Azkaban for attempting to burgle a bank. Quite terrible.”
“I’m surprised you remember him at all. We were quite small when he was arrested.”
“Please don’t mention Sirius. I don’t want to talk about him.”
“I just don’t, and don’t make that face; I’m trying to paint your eyebrows and you’re messing them up.”
“Father’s feeling better. The Healers say he’s a real fighter. It’s a tricky illness to beat, but he takes potions twice a day and is feeling much better. I’m sure he would like a Christmas visit from you. We all would.”
“Listen to me, Isla. I don’t have a problem with Bob; really I don’t. But Mother and Father are more traditional. To bring a Muggle into the House of Black? Think about what you’re saying.”
“Well, Mother and Father wouldn’t even agree that he’s fit to marry you, so I wouldn’t try that argument on them.”
“Now that’s even more foolish. If you just showed up at the house with him, I expect Father would turn him into a slug on the spot. Even on Christmas Day.”
“Why? Well, for starters, he’s a Muggle, plain and simple. That’s just a fact, Isla.”
“Have you ever thought of what you put Mother and Father through when you first started seeing him? Sneaking out of the house, coming back smelling like whiskey and garbage. You caused no end of trouble for us all.”
“Even if you were in love with him, you should have come to us rather than continue meeting with him clandestinely. Really, Isla, you have to consider what you’ve put us all through. Is there any wonder that Mother and Father are angry?”
“There were several eligible men hanging about, waiting for the slightest sign from you. Crabbe and Dunham and Macnair. You could have had any of them and, instead, you fell for a Muggle. Doesn’t Father have a right to be angry?”
“No, I’m not defending them. If I agreed with them, I wouldn’t be here right now doing you a favor. I’m just trying to make you see reason. Should you show up”unaccompanied”for the Christmas party, I feel sure that you will receive a warm welcome.”
“Well, I guess I can’t guarantee one from Mother and Father, but the house-elves will be thrilled.”
“I hadn’t told you? I’m sorry Isla, but Cozy died. A few months ago. Had some sort of tumor or something. We even called in an animal Healer, but there was nothing we could do to save him. I’m sorry, dear.”
“We didn’t bury him. I decided to do something different. It’s a little odd, but even the elves themselves were enthusiastic.”
“Well, you know how Cozy loved the house. I thought perhaps he’d like to be a part of it when he died, so we had his head removed, stuffed and hung on the wall.”
“It’s not barbaric; they think it’s a fine idea! When they can no longer service the house, they become a part of it. In the years to come, they’ll be remembered rather than forgotten.”
“Fine, when Batty dies, you can bury her yourself. Are you satisfied?”
“Move your arm just a tad. Nice. This is going to be such a classy-looking picture.”
“There’s a spell you put on it when it’s done. Then it’ll move. We’re not there yet. Not even close. Two more sittings to go.”
“You can’t be that cramped. You’re on a sofa for goodness’ sakes, not sitting in a chair! We’re pretty close to done for today anyway.”
“When will Bob be home?”
“Oh, I’ll be done by then. Wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.”
“Dinner? I’m afraid not. Mother wants me for dinner tonight. She’s inviting some people over. I think she wants to match me to Ian Fraser.”
“Oh, my goodness, no. That’s not what I want at all.”
“Why would I get married? I don’t want to be, I don’t need to be and I have plenty of money. I have more than enough friends and I have a wonderful hobby. Why on earth would I need a husband?”
“Bob is, I’m sure, a wonderful man and the situation is right for you. But me? I don’t need a husband to order me around and to tell me what to do. I like to be in control. That’s why I paint.”
“Alright. I think I’m done for today. Is tomorrow alright?”
“Wonderful. We’re close to finishing this thing. It won’t be long now.”
*
“We don’t need him today. I’m done with the cat part. It’s just you now.”
“I think Mother’s getting a little bit suspicious. I’ve told her that I’m out doing my Christmas shopping, but I don’t come home with very much. I’m tempted to tell her, Isla. What harm could it do?”
“Alright, alright, I won’t. My goodness. It’s not as though Father is going to give us a spanking, as he used to.”
“That’s a little unfair. We deserved it. Most of the time. Or at least Phineas did.”
“I sometimes think you were the worst of the three of us, Isla. You were always trickier than me and Phineas. When you did something wrong, you could always subtly lay the blame on somebody else.”
“Of course I’m not still angry at you! It was a long time ago.”
“You were a little weasel, though. Remember the time we all got out of bed to get cakes from the kitchen downstairs? Phineas and I were caught halfway down the hall, but you had already nipped back into bed.”
“You never quite played fair either. But you were always so subtle about it. You didn’t quite cheat, but you would”I don’t know, finagle a way to always be ahead of everyone else.”
“I think it’s funny, Isla! My God, I’m a grown woman! If I still carried childhood grudges, I would have killed Phineas long ago in revenge for the time he threw that bucket of mud on me. Remember that?”
“Now that wasn’t funny at all. I ruined my best gown. And now the little brat is the Headmaster of Hogwarts! Who’d have thought?”
“Isla, you stole Peter Prince from me, not the other way around! Lord, I was so upset over losing that imbecile to you. I went weeks without speaking to you. He’s dead now, I think. Wasn’t it spattergroit?”
“Yes, I thought so. He wasn’t really as bad as all that”just a damned fool. There’re enough people with that ailment running around nowadays.”
“I still have those earrings. I don’t know how he afforded them. Probably took out a loan or something. At seventeen.”
“Could you raise your elbow a little? Good. This is going to be wonderful, you know. I think I’ve really captured your spirit.”
“Yes, I remember the painting.”
“I always hated it, too. It was”a terrible likeness.”
“Please stop talking about Sirius! I don’t want to talk about him, alright?”
“I’m not being reticent. I just don’t want to hear about what a wonderful boy he was. I agree with you. I loved him. It was a terrible, terrible thing.”
“I don’t want to share, alright?”
“Thank you. Now did you see what happened at the Quidditch match yesterday?”
“The match, you know, the Harpies versus the Arrows!”
“That’s right. You don’t get the Prophet. I’d forgotten. You’ll be happy to know the Arrows won.”
“Oh, yes. Big victory. There’s talk of their going international. Bunch of rubbish, I say.”
“Maybe you should tuck a little lock of hair behind your ear; you have such nice ears.”
“Why does it all have to come back around to Sirius? I told you I didn’t want to talk about him!”
“What happened was”terrible. The death of any child at so young an age is a tragedy. But Isla, I don’t share your wishy-washy need to communicate your feelings on the matter to the world at large. Neither do Mother and Father”though they loved Sirius deeply.”
“There’s such a thing as feeling too much. The world is hard and we must be hard to survive it. I know your views on the matter are probably very different.”
“Surviving is the aim of life, not trying to change what is unchangeable. So many love change for change’s sake. They love to delude themselves into thinking that they’re making a difference in this enormous machine of a world. Short of blowing up the Ministry of Magic, one person can do very little on their own.”
“I didn’t mean to frighten you; I was merely sharing my opinions on the matter. Now lift your chin a little please.”
*
“Oh, very well. I finished the background and sofa yesterday. The only thing left to finish, is you.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Shall we go on? I’m very nearly done; just a few finishing touches left, like your hair and eyes.”
“It’s going to be beautiful, it really is. I think it may be my greatest work yet.”
“I’m just teasing; I don’t think I’ve ever done anything ‘great.’ Good, maybe.”
“Yes, the painting of Father is coming along. Small spurts of inspirations strike and I’ll paint for two hours straight. Then I won’t paint for a week. Very strange how these things come and go.”
“Well, it’s like anything else. It’s work. Creating art is work just like everything else is. All the artists, they’d like you to think they’re a bunch of ethereal centaurs or something, who play all day and just happen to create greatness. That’s not how it is. It’s hard and it’s tiring and it’s frustrating, but like anything else, it’s immensely satisfying to do something you know is really good.”
“Yes, she’s been suspicious and I think she knows where I’ve been. You know Mother. You can’t slip anything by her.”
“She’s doing rather well lately. She’s been helping Father deal with his illness and we have parties every other night it seems.”
“She does like society and what’s wrong with that? I’ve often said that Mother is most comfortable in a crowd of people she doesn’t know, and may never see again.”
“I don’t want to just complain about our parents, Isla. They have faults”as everyone does”but they mean only the best for both of us. And Phineas.”
“It all comes back to Bob, doesn’t it? Isla, I think you know the truth about his race as well as anybody.”
“The Muggles. They are inferior. There is no reasonable argument that states otherwise.”
“Look at the facts, the simple facts that are so fashionable to ignore nowadays. We can bend the physical laws that leave the Muggles trapped. We can harness forces so great that we could wipe out a thousand of them in an instant, if we chose.”
“We, and we alone, have magic, Isla. We are better than they are, by simple virtue of this fact. A man who can move a mountain and a man who cannot are not equals, Isla. One is superior, one is inferior.”
“I’ve heard all the old arguments, the little platitudes about the intelligence of the Muggle and his kind. Those simpleminded wizards who hold up their rights are doing nothing but humiliating themselves in front of their peers by attempting to convince us that we are not superior, when the truth is widely known.”
“And should these two sides mix, the superior and the inferior? Of course not. We must uphold what is ours: the status of greatness. To mingle with Muggles, to befriend them, to marry them, is abominable. It is a disgrace, to our race and to our house.”
“I did say that didn’t I? And you believed me, Isla. You were always so incredibly naïve. You believed that your little sister Ellie was trying to be friends didn’t you? You thought that I wanted to enter this place, wanted to converse with you like a sister, wanted to be in the presence of the flesh touched by a filthy animal. You are incredibly stupid.”
“Petrificus Totalus.”
“There. I want to finish this portrait, Isla. I wanted to complete it and when it is completed”when I really and truly have you captured on this canvas”when, it is completed, I will kill you.”
“You are, of course, surprised by this development. I have been so kind, so sisterly to you. A concept you have never grasped, Isla, is deceit. It is far too subtle for you.”
“It has been a miserable experience over the past days, sitting in this hovel and making chit-chat with you, the woman who has shamed our family so deeply. But I have borne it, for two things must be accomplished.”
“I have intended to kill you since I walked into this room”no, before that, far before that. I do this not out of a petty grievance of any kind, but out of a sense of duty to my family. We have discussed it amongst ourselves and decided it the best course of action.”
“But I am not without feeling for you, Isla. You are my sister and”despite your betrayal of the House of Black”you deserved better than a hasty assassination in order to stop the shame you’ve put the family through.”
“So I am going to finish my painting of you and it will be a little reminder, a small token of the good --such as there is -- that you have done for all of us. It is truly a great work. It is so great that after its subject is dead, it will, in effect, take that subject’s place.”
“Over the past days, I have spoken with you at length, hoping to find some small glimmer of sense or remorse still left. I found none. You are as idiotic as you ever were, too kind for this hard world of ours.”
“The Black family will not be defamed in this way, Isla. The family is greater than any one member in it and we all serve the house. You did not, and as much as it saddens me, you cannot, be allowed to remain as a canker on our family, our parents. On me.”
“I am both happy and saddened to say that this painting is done. It is quite beautiful. Would you like to see it?”
“I really believe I have captured you”the best of you. You will not be forgotten, thrown away like garbage. You hold a place in the House of Black, Isla. Always.”
“I have to do this. It is the only way to rid ourselves of this embarrassment. I am sorry you have chosen this path. I truly am. Ours is a noble, sad house. But it is ours to keep, Isla.”
“Avada Kedavra.”